Thursday, January 15, 2009

Pontifical Council for the Family president and Cardinal Ennio Antonelli warned that the traditional family must be given "decisive priority...for the future of society in a post-modern culture sick with individualism."

If you live in Massachusetts and feel called by the Lord Jesus to do your part to promote and defend the vocation of marriage, click on this link to learn how to get involved. Christian marriage is sacred. In God's plan, the marriage covenant between a man and a woman becomes the image and symbol of the Covenant which unites God to His people (Hos 2:21; Jer 3:6-13; Is 54:5-10). It is the sign of Christ's love for His Church (Eph 5:32). As Pope John Paul II explained, "So often the pressures of modern living separate husbands and wives from one another, threatening their lifelong interdependence in love and fidelity. Can we also not be concerned about the impact of cultural pressures upon relations between the generations, upon parental authority and the transmission of sacred values? Our Christian conscience should be deeply concerned about the way in which sins against love and against life are often presented as examples of 'progress' and emancipation. Most often, are they not but the age-old forms of selfishness dressed up in a new language and presented in a new cultural framework?" It is important that we all take up the Church's call to promote and defend marriage and family life as sacred realities."

Let's all join with His Eminence Cardinal Ennio Antonelli and defend the traditional family.

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It is rather obvious that Barack Obama has chosen sides in this culture war against the traditional family. Homosexual Episcopal "Bishop" V. Gene Robinson will be a participant at the Inauguration as will a "GLBT" band which is featured in the Decadence Parade. The Obama administration has thereby declared itself openly hostile to the traditional family.

Visit the Obama administration's website Change.gov and read up on their agenda. The Obama White House will be even more radical than the Clinton White House. The liberal media are doing their best to keep this from the American people. They will continue to portray Obama and his team as "centrist" or "moderate" when they are in fact radicals with a socialist agenda.

Once again, the U.S. Bishops have warned Obama not to advance a radical culture of death agenda. Even before he assumes office, Obama is dividing the country. Is this the "change" he promised?

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The nation's Catholic bishops have again warned incoming president Barack Obama to not aggressively promote abortion. In a new letter to him, they call on him to respect the sanctity of human life and to not promote abortion in any universal health care plan.

The letter, provided to LifeNews.com and which outlined "an agenda for dialogue and action," was signed by Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.

He called on Obama to work with the Catholic bishops to "protect the lives of the most vulnerable and voiceless members of the human family, especially unborn children and those who are disabled or terminally ill."

"We will consistently defend the fundamental right to life from conception to natural death," the letter told Obama. "We will encourage one and all to seek common ground that will reduce the number of abortions in morally sound ways that affirm the dignity of pregnant women and their unborn children."

The bishops also provided their second warning to Obama on the Freedom of Choice Act, issuing their first last year after their November national meeting at which they worried Catholic hospitals would be forced to shut down as a result of the bill's far-reaching effects.

The letter promised strong opposition to legislative and other measures to expand abortion."

It also promised vigorous efforts to protect existing pro-life laws that protect taxpayers from funding abortion and medical professionals from having to participate in them.

We "will work to retain essential, widely supported policies which show respect for unborn life, protect the conscience rights of health care providers and other Americans, and prevent government funding and promotion of abortion," the letter told Obama.

They warned that "efforts to force Americans to fund abortions with their tax dollars would pose a serious moral challenge and jeopardize the passage of essential health care reform."

On health care, the Catholic bishops called on Obama to not make abortion coverage part of the government plan or force insurers to cover abortions.

They called for "truly universal health care coverage which protects all human life including pre-natal life" and which includes "a variety of options and ensuring respect for the moral and religious convictions of patients and providers."

Incoming Vice President Joe Biden and members of Congress received corresponding letters as well from the bishops.

Chuck Colson on the new Hate Crimes Bill which Democrats want to pass; it's about silencing Christian opposition to homosexuality:

By Chuck Colson, a Breakpoint Commentary

For further resources on this issue, go to the Breakpoint website. We encourage you to sign up for these excellent daily commentaries by e-mail.

In George Orwell’s classic novel 1984, the government Thought Police constantly spies on citizens to make sure they are not thinking rebellious thoughts. Thought crimes are severely punished by Big Brother.

1984 was intended as a warning against totalitarian governments that enslave and control their citizens. Never have we needed this warning more urgently than now, because America’s Thought Police are knocking on your door.

Last week the House Judiciary Committee, egged on by radical homosexual groups, passed what can only be called a Thought Crimes bill. It’s called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. But this bill is not about hate. It’s not even about crime. It’s about outlawing peaceful speech—speech that asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong.

Some say we need this law to prevent attacks on homosexuals. But we already have laws against assaults on people and property. Moreover, according to the FBI, crimes against homosexuals in the United States have dropped dramatically in recent years. In 2005, out of 863,000 cases of aggravated assault, just 177 cases were crimes of bias against homosexuals—far less than even 1 percent.

Another problem is that in places where hate crimes laws have been passed, hate crimes have been defined to include verbal attacks—and even peaceful speech. The Thought Police have already prosecuted Christians under hate crimes laws in England, Sweden, Canada, and even in some places in the United States.

If this dangerous law passes, pastors who preach sermons giving the biblical view of homosexuality could be prosecuted. Christian businessmen who refuse to print pro-gay literature could be prosecuted. Groups like Exodus International, which offer therapy to those with unwanted same-sex attraction, could be shut down.

In classic 1984 fashion, peaceful speech will be redefined as a violent attack worthy of punishment.

This is the unspoken goal of activist groups. We know this because during the debate over the bill last week, Congressman Mike Pence (R) of Indiana offered a Freedom of Religion amendment to this hate crimes bill. It asked that nothing in this law limit the religious freedom of any person or group under the Constitution. The committee refused to adopt it. It also refused to adopt amendments protecting other groups from hate crimes—like members of the military, who are often targets of verbal attacks and spitting. They also shot down amendments that would protect the homeless and senior citizens, also often targeted by criminals. Nothing doing, the committee said—the only group they wanted to protect: homosexuals.

Clearly, the intent of this law is not to prevent crime, but to shut down freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought. Its passage would strike at the very heart of our democracy.

The full Congress may vote on this bill as early as this week. Unless you want Big Brother telling you what to say, what to think, and what to believe, I urge you to contact your congressman immediately, urging him or her to vote against this bill. If you visit the BreakPoint website, you’ll find more information about this radical law.

If we do nothing, 1984 will no longer be fiction, and Big Brother will be watching you and me—ready to punish the “wrong” thoughts.

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About Me

Born in Bitburg, Germany,
Paul Melanson is a Catholic lay-philosopher and apologist whose work has appeared in many publications and websites including The Union Leader, The Wanderer, Seattle Catholic, Newsblaze, Helium, and Amazines. He has been interviewed by The National Catholic Register, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the television newsmagazine Chronicle.